


You No Longer Fear (when your heart's turned to gold)

by lazyDaysie



Series: Everything, Everything; Gold, Gold [3]
Category: Dragon Quest Series, Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Amnesia, Gen, Identity Issues, Mordegon is why we can't have nice things, Spectral Sentinel Erik, Sylvando is still Gay and still The Best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 03:45:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16339214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyDaysie/pseuds/lazyDaysie
Summary: Midas doesn't remember anything, and something called the Gullwolf is terrorizing Sniflheim. And who's this "Erik" that the local priest keeps going on about?





	You No Longer Fear (when your heart's turned to gold)

Erik had been alone in the dark for a very long time. He thought he remembered that it hadn’t always been so, but the darkness swept those thoughts away before they could truly take hold.

**Poor child…**

A voice? It was almost deafening, despite not being terribly loud. Still, it was something different than the endless abyss, so Erik listened.

**Forced to slave away in poverty… in cold… in hunger…**

Yes… he had been worked to the bone in miserable conditions… treated like a _slave_ … The memories came flooding back.

**Abandoned by your parents, by your guardians… by your sister…**

Abandoned, yes… the mention of his sister felt like a knife in the heart.

Mia…

**Your young heart overflows with greed, with rage, with despair…**

It wasn’t fair. Why did Erik have to suffer?

**You will make a splendid addition to my world of darkness…**

Darkness…? Erik hesitated, but… was he being given a second chance?

**I am Mordegon, Lord of Shadows, ruler of all Erdrea…  
Come, child – drink of my power… and be reborn…!**

_I want to be free!_

With that single thought, the gold disappeared from Erik’s skin, and he could move once again. He felt power swirling in his chest; was this what mages felt like all the time? He could understand the appeal.

Slowly, he walked out of the tiny cave that had been his home and into the moonlight, and he thought he might shout from happiness. He could _move_ , he could – he paused.

“What–?”

His fingers curled into black claws, spiky fur sprouted from his skin – he was changing, changing, until… he became a gigantic wolf-like monster, hands like paws and gold-toned fur that stirred in the light breeze. On his back was a pair of mighty wings, long and narrow like that of a gull. Like _that_ gull… _the gull that Mia gave him_.

All at once, rage boiled in his veins like molten metal.

“ **MIIIIIIIAAAAAA**!” Erik howled.

**Loading . . .**

Midas – that’s what his new (old?) friends called him, anyway – hugged himself, looking out at Sniflheim harbor. They’d had to use Lorelei’s harp to get around the huge rocks blockading the entrance, but now that they were here… He shuddered.

“What’s the matter, darling?” the jester (Sylvando?) asked, his voice gentle. “Are you cold?”

“No,” Midas said. It was true; the cold hardly registered through his hooded coat. “Just… something doesn’t feel right.”

Midas’ instincts were right; Queen Frysabel, missing her crown, explained that a massive gold monster – the Gullwolf, they called it – was laying siege to Sniflheim, raiding the city by night and making off with livestock and valuables, sometimes snatching the jewelry right off of people’s bodies.

“My people are terrified,” Frysabel said mournfully. “And I am helpless to protect them. It is all I can do to protect my dear Krystalinda from their panic.”

“Dinnae worry yerself, Yer Majesty,” Rab assured her. “We’ll get tae the bottom o’ this in no time.”

Frysabel clasped her hands in front of her heart happily and thanked them, but Midas frowned. Gold... He had a _very_ bad feeling about this.

**Loading . . .**

“Erik?” The priest approached, eyes wide and disbelieving. “I heard someone new had come to town, but I never imagined that it would be you.”

Midas froze, head splitting with pain. “Huh…?”

“D’ye know our friend, Father?” Rab asked. The rest of his words were lost in a haze of pain as Midas curled in on himself.

Sylvando had one hand resting protectively on Midas’ back, the other gently stroking his arm in what was probably meant to be a comforting motion. Once he’d recovered enough to stand, Sylvando and the Luminary helped him to the church as a slow, steady walk.

The priest greeted them warmly. “Ah, there you are. I am glad to see you safe and well, Erik. It has been five long years since last we met.”

“Erik…” Why did saying the name make Midas – Erik? – feel so guilty? “So… you know me? And my name is…?” He couldn’t bring himself to say it. “Did I… used to live here or something?” His heart was pounding.

“Not quite,” the priest hedged. A flash of impatience made Midas scowl. Unaffected, the priest went on, “The Viking raiders who once roamed the northern seas would often stop here to buy supplies, or to drink away their ill-gotten gains at the inn. And when they came, Erik… you came with them.”

“I’m a… _Viking_?” It didn’t feel right.

Hendrik seemed to disagree. “So that is why the men I sent to scour Heliodor for details of your origin would always return empty-handed – you were born _here_ … a Viking…”

“Not born one,” the priest corrected. “Erik and his younger sister were orphans. The Vikings found them, took them in and raised them as their own. Whether that was for good or bad, I really couldn’t say – by all accounts, they treated the poor children like slaves.”

Sister? He had a sister? That… a sibling, yes. _Yes_.

“Then, one day, we heard rumors that Erik’s sister had passed away.”

 _Passed away_. Dead. _Dead_. Erik, _Erik passed away, Erik was dead and it was all your fault **Mia**_ –

“Stop.” It was barely over a whisper.

“It has always saddened me that I was not able to help those poor children more… Perhaps if I can help you recover Erik–”

“ _I said STOP_!”

Midas shook his head roughly. Their head, _her head_ –

“I need to be alone for a while.”

****

Loading . . .

Alone in the cell, Midas was more alone than they’d been since they were locked up in Heliodor. The wolves – _they felt so familiar_ – cackled at them – _her_? – and brought to mind grizzled, salt-weathered sailors. His – their head was spinning, aching, pounding –  
– _In her mind, she sees a smile on the face of someone who looks like her_ –

**Loading . . .**

When all had been revealed, Midas – Mia, her name was Mia – stood with her eyes closed, waiting for her companions to speak. She didn’t know what to expect.

“Mi… Mia,” the Luminary, El, said, reaching out his hand. “You–”

“You saw it, right?” Mia barreled right past what was probably meant to be comforting words. Same naïve country boy as ever. Erik would’ve liked him. “The statue my brother turned into was right here.”

“Do you think maybe the Gullwolf took him?” Jade mused.

“Well, we’re out here to defeat the nasty thing, aren’t we?” Sylvando chirped, pointing dramatically to the black stone castle behind Mia’s old home. “Let’s go and get your brother back, darling~”

Mia hesitated for only a moment before letting out a little huff of a laugh. She didn't know what she’d expected. “Right. Let’s get him!”

**Loading . . .**

Mia didn’t know what she’d thought they were going to find. The golden statue of Erik, his face still twisted up in frozen agony? Erik, somehow free of the curse, forced to serve a monstrous master? Erik, cut up into golden pieces to be sold by the pound–

What she saw was Erik, lounging on a throne of furs, jeweled necklaces draped around his neck and bracelets of gold hanging from his thin wrists. He looked like a pirate king, Queen Frysabel’s crown tilted rakishly atop his head. When he saw her, he grinned a sharp, cruel grin, like a wolf who’d just spotted his next meal.

This was not what she’d expected at all.

Mia’s voice was faint when she spoke. “Erik?”

“Hey, _sis_ ,” Erik chuckled. “Heard _you_ go by Erik now. They call me Gullwolf these days.”

She felt cold.

“You… _you’re_ Gullwolf?”

Erik grinned wider, teeth oddly pointed. “Seems that way, doesn’t it?”

She felt _sick_.

**—TBC**


End file.
